Knitted fabric and the production thereof



0a. 11, 1938. A, R, COLE 2,132,778

KNITTED FABRIC AND THE PRODUCTION THEREOF Filed Nov. 8, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 11, 1938.

' A. R. COLE 2,132,778

KNITTED FABRIC AND THE PRODUCTION THEREOF Filed Nov. 8, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 111N117 WQ Oct. 1938.. A. R. COLE 32,778

' KNITTEDFABRIC AND THE PRCDUCTI'ON THEREOF Filed Nov. 8, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 20.

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Oct. 11, 1938. A. R. CO'LE 1 2,132,778

KNITTED FABRIC AND THE PRODUCTION THEREOF Filed Nov. 8, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4' Patented Oct. 11, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KNITTED FABRIC AND THE PRODUCTION THEREOF Alfred Reymes Cole, Mountsoml, England Application November 8, 1935, Serial No. 48,913

In Great Britain November 8,1934

20 Claims. (01. 66-189) or compound loops, such loops being defined for the purpose of this specification as comprising two component loops, viz. a main or ordinary ll loop which may be formed of a ground or main yarn, and a second or locking loop, at least twice the length of the main loop and formed preferably of a finer yarn.

As viewed from one aspect, the invention pro- 20 vides a, knitted fabric having multiple or compound loops, each comprising component loops that are of different lengths, are formed by different threads and extend from and/or -into different courses. Hence should either of the com- 25 ponent loops of a compound loop be severed, the adjacent stitches of that wale do not run for they are held by the other component loop. As viewed from another aspect, the invention provides a knitted fabric wherein at each wale or 30 certain wales each or every loop is drawn through a plurality of preceding loops and has drawn through it a plurality of suceeding loops of the same wale. The invention also includes a weft knitted fabric composed of stitch loops of one 35 thread locked by stitch loops of a weft thread that is interlaced with the'ilrst said thread in the direction of the wales.

The fabric according to this invention maybe produced by a method of knitting which comderstood, referencewill now be made to the accompanying drawings in which 4 Figure 1 shows one form of fabric according to this invention.

Figures 1A to U show the stages in the manu- 55 facture thereof by the aid of a novel needle.

Figure 2 shows another form of fabric ac cording to this invention, and

Figures 2A to 211 show the stages in the manufacture thereof, while Figures 3 and 4 illustrate two forms of the 5 novel needle.

Turning first to Figure l, the fabric there illustrated is composed of compound loops. The coursesare numbered 3, 4' and 5. Considering any one wale, a compound loop in course 3 may be viewed as comprising a main loop 2s and a locking thread loop 2L. Hence these two component loops may be viewed as extending into different courses. I Conversely, if the compound loop is viewed as comprising say a main loop 2s and .a locking loop 2L the said component loops extend from differen courses. The locking thread loop 2L is intertwined with a locking thread loop IL of the preceding course andextends into'the succeeding course 3 where it is entwined with the locking thread loop 3L, which itselfextends into the succeeding course 4 and is entwined with the locking thread loop 4L. Hence along each course the heads of two loops coincide, for example along course 3 the head of the main loop course 3, the legs of the main thread loops 3s are coincident with the legs of the locking thread loops 2L and 3L.

That this fabric is resistant to laddering will readily be appreciated. Assuming, for example, that the heads of the loops 3s and IL are completely broken; the-main thread loop 2s and the locking thread loop IL are not released, however, because they have drawn through them the locking thread loop 3L. Similarly the main thread loop is and the locking thread loop 3L are not released because the loops 5s and 5L extend through them. Moreover the locking thread loop IL is not released because it is passed through and closely around the locking thread loop 4L.

Neither is the face appearance of this fabric radically different from'ordinary plain knitted fabric such as is employed for ladies stockings, for although it is built up of compound loops the component loops thereof are of substantially normal form.

Thus, it will be noted, there areincorporated into the fabric non-laddering wales, whether the fabric be of the form shown in'Figure 1 or that v of Figure 2 (to be later described .more in detail) wherein the needle loops are of plain or normal form, though of compound construction and formed from different threads, which threads are shaped respectively into longer and shorter loops, the bights of which needle loops in any course are coincident while the component threads thereof come from difierent courses of the fabric; and that the sinker loops between the wales are also of normal form and of compound construction, the threads of such sinker loops coinciding in their courses where they cross from one wale to the next.

Thisfabric is produced by the aid of a needle having two hooks, a main hook and, inside it, a minute subsidiary hook I2. These'hooks are spaced sufllciently apart lengthwise of the needle that when two threads are fed to the needle, the latter produces two loops, one substantially twice the length of the other. The loop formation may be assisted by sinkers of special shape. Such sinkers are not illustrated, but it may be mentioned that each sinker has in advance of its web-holding throat a short straight top edge over which the needles draw sinker loops from a main yarn and, immediately in advance of the point over which said loops are drawn, a downwardly inclined top edge over which the locking thread loops are drawn, the included angle between the two edges being very obtuse, say in the neighbourhood of 160. Therefore, the apexbetween these two edges serves to divide the threads and, as will readily be understood, by regulating'the advance of the sinkers so as to cause the locking thread loops to be drawn over different parts of the inclined edge, the length of saidloops may be controlled somewhat. Such control is desirably in addition to the ordinary stiffening control provided in seamless hose machines (as for example by raising and lowering. thev needle cylinder in relation to the cams) for varying the stitch length as knitting proceeds down the leg of a seaml hose.

For convenience, it has been elected toshow in Figure 1A the shank of the needle II encircled by the single loop 0L. Two threads are fed into the needlehook in such manner that the main thread I: is taken by the main hook II while the auxiliary or locking thread IL is taken by the subsidiary hook I2. The main-thread is'desirably stouter than the locking thread and it may be mentioned, by way of example, that in the production of ladies hose, the former may be of four-strand silk and the latter of singlestrand silk. The. needle then descends asshown in Fig. 13 to draw loops from these threads through the old loop 0L and to cast the latter of! as in Fig. 1C. At the next stage shown in Fig. 1D, the needle is shown as having been raised, so that the main loop Is and the locking thread loop IL are cleared below the latch. New threads 2.: and IL are fed to the main and subsidiary hooks respectively and the needle thereupon descends. In -its descent the open latch (e. g. held open by a latch guard) enters the preceding locking loop IL, for because of the additional length of the latter the bight of the loop projects beyond the needle shank. This locking thread loop IL is, therefore, returned to the needle main hook and as the latch closes the main thread loop Is is cast off over it. In other words, .the locking thread loop IL is drawn through the main thread loop is. Simultaneously, new main and locking thread loops is and 2L are drawn through the preceding main thread loop Is and the preceding locking thread loop IL while the new locking loop 2L is drawn through the preceding locking oop IL. The stage shown in Figure 1F is, there ore, reached, and it will be noted that looking thread loops IL and 2L are entwined. Next the coincidentloops 2s and IL and the loop 2L are cleared below the latch and new threads 38 and BL fed to the needles see Fig. 1G. Thereafter, as shown in Figs. 1H and H, the locking thread loop 2L is returned to the'needle hook, the loops 2s and IL are cast off over it and new loops 3s and 3L are drawn through the loops IL, is, while loop SL is drawn through loop 2L.

As has been pointed out and as is readily distinguishable from Figure 1, a characteristic feature of the fabric thus produced is the intertwining of the locking thread loops in the direction of the wales. It is within the scope of this invention, however, to produce fabric which is identical with the Said fabric in all respects with the exception of the said characteristic feature. Such fabric is shown in Figure 2. As before, the courses are numbered 3,- 4 and 5. Along course 3, the head of the main thread loop 2s (produced by thread fed in the course next preceding course 3) is coincident with-the head of the locking loop IL formed by thread-fed in the precedingcourse-but-one. Along course 4, the head of the main thread loop is is coincident with the head of the preceding locking thread loop 2L. Similarly along course 5 the head of the main thread loop produced in course 4 iscoincident with the head of the locking thread loop produced at the preceding-course-but-on'e. Downthe wales, the leg of any main thread loop is coincident with the legs of the locking thread loops produced at that and at the preceding course, but these legs of the locking thread loops are not intertwined.

This fabric is also produced by the aid of a needle having two hooks, and the stages in its production are shown in Figs. 2A to 2H. Commen'cing with Fig. 2A, the needle shank III is shown encircled by a loop 0L, cleared below the latch, and threads I: and IL are shown as being taken by the main and subsidiary hooks respectively; In Fig. 2B, unequal loops Is and IL are drawn from these threads through the old loop 0L. At the next stage, Figure 2C, the loops Is and IL are cleared below the latch and new threads is and IL are fed to the needle hooks. So far the production stages are substantially similar with those of the fabric illustrated in Figure 1. In casting 03, however, precautions are taken to prevent the loop IL 'being transfixed by the open latch and returned immediately to the, open needle so that the loop Is is cast off over it. For

this purpose, the sinkers may be advanced to tighten the loops around the needle shank. The result is that both the loops Is and IL are cleared on to the closed latch. Further descent results in the main loops Is being completely 'cast off the needle. Precautions are taken, however, either to prevent the loop IL from being cast 01! or to return it to the needle immediately it has been cast off. For this purpose at the knocking over point a rotary brush may be provided with its axis of ro tation substantially radial, which brush is driven by contact with the sinkers or the needle heads so that its bristles brush the locking loops downwards and prevents them from slippingjofl the heads of the needles. When such a-brush is employed, it is desirable that the needle head shall be substantially of a pointed nature instead of being semi-circular, the" point being approximately latch side and the back being regarded as vertical) whence it extends obliquely backwards and downwards to the needle shank. Such a construction is shown in Figure 3. By reason of the straight front edge of the hook, the danger that the locking thread loop will slip off is minimized. Alternatively, insteadof ensuring that the locking thread loop is not cast off, the said loop is cast off and the needle is raised to re-enter it, as is possible by reason of the increased length of the locking loop. For this purpose, needles of another modified shape shown in Figure 4 may be employed. In these needles the rear edge of the hook extends up substantially straight from the shank (instead of curving forwards in semicircle) until it reaches its highest level, whence it extends obliquely forwards and downwards to the point.

The main thread loop having been cast oil, the new'loops 2s and 2L are drawn through it (but not through locking loop IL) and the needle is then raised to clearthe three loops IL, 2s and 2L below the needle latch, Figure 21-. New threads 3s, 3L are then fed to the needle hooks," and the needle is lowered to cast of! the loops is and IL. These two loops are cast off simultaneously because their loop heads coincide, but as previously, the loop 2L is either not cast-off or is and the top of the interior of the subsidiary hook is substantially equal to and preferably somewhat greater than the mean distance between successive courses of the fabric that it is desired to produce. Thus if the fabric is to have 64 courses to the inch (as is desirable at the top of the leg of a seamless hose knitted on a circular machine having 300 needles and a needle circle diameter of 3 /2":-i. e. '70 gauge) the said distance between-the hooks should be in the neighbourhood of .032"-.039". Hence the locking thread loops are drawn approximately twice the length of the main thread loops, as is necessary if they are to extend alongside the loops of the next course.-

The latch of the needle (when such'needles are employed) should be so arranged that it does not close on the thread and cut it with a scissor action, being formed for example as is shown in the specification of Patent No. 396,705.

Both of the fabrics hereinbefore described are ladderproof because the head or bight of any stitch consists of two thread loops extending from different coursesz-the locking thread loop from the preceding course but one and the main thread loop from the preceding course. Even were, say, the bight of the compound loop comprising the main thread fed at course 3 and the locking thread fed at the next preceding course completely broken a ladder could not form because the loop of locking thread fed at course 3'extends through the compound loop comprising the main thread fed at said next preceding course and the locking thread fed at the second preceding course. In other words its ladderproof qualities are due to a definite lock of the intermeshing constituent loops and are not entirely due to frictional resistance. Such fabric is suitable for many purposes, but is particularly suitable for ladies stockings because its appearance does not differ from and its elasticity is the same as that of ordinary weft knitted fabric.

I claim:

l. A knitted fabric having multiple or compound loops of plain or normal form, each comprising component loops that are of different lengths, the bights of which loops coincide with each other, are formed by different threads, and extend from different courses. I

2. A knitted fabric having multiple or compound loops of plain ordinary form, each comprising component loops that are of different lengths, and are formed from different threads that extend into different courses of the wale formed of such compound loops.

3. A knitted fabric having non-laddering wales incorporated therein, such wales formed of compound plain loops formed of different threads, the needle loops comprising a longer and a shorter loop, the bights of which coincide in a course, and the component threads forming these compound loops coming from different courses of the fabric, and the sinker loops between wales being also compound and formed of component threads that coincide in their courses where they cross from one wale to the next.

4. A knitted fabric formed of compound loops each of which consists of a stitch loop that is drawn through a loop of the preceding course of the wale inwhich it occurs and has a loop of the succeeding course of that wale drawn through it, and of a locking loop which is drawn through a loop of the preceding-course-but-one in said wale and has a loop of the succeeding-coursebut-one of said wale drawn through it.

5. Knitted fabric according to claim 2 composed of compound loops, wherein the head of each stitch is composed of a plurality of loopheads and the legs of each stitch are each composed of agreater number of looplegs.

6. Knitted fabric composed of main thread loops and locking thread loops, wherein the looking thread loops are substantially twice the two courses, and wherein the heads of the looking thread loops appertaining to one course extend alongside or are coincident with the heads of the main thread loops of the next course and have the main and locking thread loops of the next-course-but-one drawn through them.

7. Weft knitted fabric according to claim 6, wherein along the courses heads of two loops coincide while down the wales legs of three loops coincide.

8. Weft knitted fabric according to claim 6, wherein at alternate courses the heads of two loops coincide, while down the wales legs of two loops coincide in each course.

9. Knitted fabricaccording to claim 1, wherein the legs of thread loops produced in successive courses are entwined.

10. Knitted fabric according to claim 1 and comprising main thread loops and locking thread loops, wherein successive locking thread loops are passed through and closely around each other.

11. A method of knitting which comprises forming in a course two loops of unequal length and passing them through at least one preceding loop, forming a further loop in a succeeding of the first mentioned course, and forming at least one further loop in a-third course and passing it through the longer loop of the first mentioned course and the loop of the aforesaid succeeding course.-

12. A method according to claim 11,,which comprises forming two unequal loops at each course and passing them through the shorter loop of the preceding course and the longer loop of the preceding-course-but-one.

13. A method according to claim 11, which also comprises passing loops, formed at successivecourses, through and around each other.

14. A method according to claim 11, in which the longer loop of each course is passed through and around the longer loop of a succeeding course.

15. A method of producing knitted fabric which comprises forming at successive courses compound loops each of .which consists of two component loops of unequal length, passing each compound loop through component loops from two preceding courses, passing a compound loop of a succeeding course through one component loop of each compound loop and passing through the other component loop thereof a compound loop 0! a'nother succeeding course.

16. A method of knitting on a hooked needle,

2,182,778 course and passing it through the, unequal loops which comprises drawing a compound loop through a preceding loop, casting the latter on, drawing a further compound loop through the preceding compound loop, casting oi! only the shorter loop of said, preceding compound loop, drawing a third compound loop together with the longer loop of the first compound loop through the second compound loop, castingofl the longer loop of the first, and only the shorter loop of the second, compound loop, and so on in repetition.

17. A method according to claim 16, which comprises casting oi! the shorter loop of a compound loop over the longer loop thereof.

18. A method according to claim 16, which comprises clearing each compound loop preparatory to casting oi! the shorter loop thereof but then restoring the longer loop to the needle hook.

19. A method of knitting according to claim 16, on a latch needle, which comprises causing or permitting the open latch to enter said longer loop when cleared below it and to close on said loop while the shorter loop is cast 01!. g

20. A method according to claim 16, which comprises eflecting casting of! movement between the needle and the compound loop and either preventing the longer component loop thereof from being cast 01! or restoring it to the needle.

7 ALFRED REYMES COLE. 

